STRICTLY BUSINESS: HOMES ADD CLOSET RACKS WITH MOTORS, OTHER DEVICES

You've seen motorized clothes racks in dry cleaners.

How about one in your closet?

They're available for homes that have everything, especially spacious closets.

The racks "home style," work just like the industrial models found in dry cleaners.

At one time, "Closet Carousels" were the rage for only the "rich and famous" set, but can now be obtained in price ranges from $1,500, depending on the size of the closet.

A company in New Jersey -- White Home Products Inc. -- jumped on the band wagon early, and now produces the carousel for home use.

How about an "automobile bidet?"

It appears that it is no longer enough merely to build a garage fit for a fleet of cars. Some wealthy homeowners are installing high-powered hoses and soap dispensers so they never have to be caught in their driveways with dust on the windshield. One California homeowner installed an $18,000 personal car wash in his garage, where he keeps two Ferraris, a Jaguar and his Miata.

The system is on tracks. It soaps, brushes and rinses, then blow-dries the vehicle, all in two minutes.

If the homeowner happens to live in cold climates, they can install "heated" driveways to melt the winter snow.

The concept for this is simple. Electric heat mats or hot-water coils are built into the asphalt, and can be installed at a cost of about $7,000 for 100 feet of driveway.

Gambling scene changing

The gambling scene is a changing one in Missouri and Illinois.

Once envisioned as historic riverboats cruising up and down the rivers, Missouri's casinos are now permanently docked, barely on the river, and in some cases, not even boats.

In just three years, the face of gambling has changed from small, cruising riverboats to glitzy, Las Vegas-style casinos with no intention of leaving dock.

The situation is a little different in Illinois. The Prairie State's gambling riverboats are riverboats, and they do cruise up and down short spans of rivers.

Neither state is satisfied -- Illinois gambling interests want the dockside privilege and Missouri interests want their $500, two-hour loss limit lifted.

Both want to get rid of the two-hour "cruise" times.

If casino companies get their way, the $500 loss limit of Missouri will soon be a thing of the past. Ditto, cruising boats in Illinois.

Since Memorial Day 1994, 10 riverboat casino complexes have opened in Missouri, creating about 15,000 jobs, generating about $100 million for Missouri schools and more than $40 million for the towns and cities where they are situated.

Illinois' first two casinos opened in late 1991 -- the Alton Belle in September and Par-A-Dice in November. Illinois now has 10 gambling operators that created more than 14,000 jobs, more than $700 million in revenues to the state, and more than $300 million to their local communities.

Missouri voted 'cruising'

Sites of riverboats were determined by the Illinois General Assembly while in Missouri, voters approved what they thought would be floating riverboat casinos with individual losses not to exceed $500 for each two-hour cruise.

How the times have changed!

The Missouri casinos don't cruise. Some aren't even boats. Some don't even float on the river proper. And if the casino companies and some legislators have their way, the loss limit will soon be a thing of the past.

The public voted for paddleboats and now they have Vegas-style casinos.

Casinos have pushed hard to end the $500 cap, claiming it not only robs them of profits but holds down tourism and limits tax revenue for the state and cities that have riverboats.

In its annual report released earlier this month, the Missouri Gaming Commission agreed.

"Repealing the loss limit would make the Missouri operators more competitive," the report said. "Without this change, the Missouri gaming industry will continue to be at a competitive disadvantage, and over time, will decline rather than prosper."

Only state with loss limit

Missouri is the only state that has a loss limit.

The problem with the loss limit, however, isn't just the cap itself, say its proponents. It's the mechanisms the state and the riverboats have to go through to enforce it -- a punch-card ticket every two hours, and sometimes delays in obtaining new cards at the end of the two-hour session.

It's the hassle, said Mike Ryan, director of the Missouri Riverboat Gaming Association. Some people get enraged at the waiting and silliness of its all.

A number of legislators are against doing away with the cap.

"The people voted for the cap, it's what the public voted for," said Rep. Mary Kasten, R-Cape Girardeau, and state Sen. Peter Kinder, R-Cape Girardeau, said, "I'm against eliminating it."

They have plenty of company. During a recent Associated Press poll, a majority of state senators -- 19 of them -- said they oppose changing the $500 regulation. The senators told the AP they oppose tinkering with the law, especially the loss limits.

Legislation has been filed to remove the cap on losses, but it takes 18 votes to pass a bill in the Senate. And nothing can become law without bringing the deliberative, debate-prone Senate on board.

Just five of the 28 senators responding to the AP survey said the law should be changed.

While the loss limit may remain, other changes have gradually taken place.

No more cruising

One by one, the casinos have quit cruising the river.

The President in St. Louis was granted permission to stay dockside in its initial request since the boat, which has no engines, is incapable of cruising.

By 1995, riverboats on the Missouri River had stopped cruising, claiming the river, with its frequent rising and falling levels and sometimes narrow channels, is unsafe for large boats.

The last cruising riverboat, the Casino Aztar in Caruthersville, notified the Gaming Commission in August it was docking for good along the banks of the Mississippi.

As for the newest casinos, there was never any intention to cruise.

The restaurants, shops and hotel adjoining Riverport Casino Center in suburban St. Louis, which opened recently, were built on land. But to meet state requirements, the center's four casinos stand on barges in a basin about 1,000 feet off the main channel of the Missouri River.

Technically, the casino is on the river since the inlet uses river water. But Riverport patrons wouldn't know it -- there are no windows or access to river views.

The new Station Casino Kansas City also has a large land-based entertainment complex, its two casinos on a barge.

And the trend away from riverboats is continuing.

Station Casinos operates two casinos at one site in St. Charles, one on a riverboat, one on a barge. The company plans to spend $100 million to bring in a second barge, dump the riverboat, and build a basin area off the Missouri River's main channel, which will house both barges.

Fourth Players anniversary

Players Casino will observes its fourth anniversary at Metropolis next weekend.

Players Riverboat Casino started operations Feb. 23, 1993, along the Ohio River in downtown Metropolis.

The Players Anniversary Community Celebration will be held Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. at a Players Casino Promotional tent. Casino and City of Metropolis officials, along with Chamber of Commerce officials will be on hand.

B. Ray Owen is business editor for the Southeast Missourian.